Never Come Back
by purplecitrusella
Summary: What if Zack's car hadn't been crushed at the end of the movie? What if he had gotten into an argument with someone? What if he used the car to get away? What if he never came back? Set after The Suite Life Movie.
1. Drive Away

_**A/N: What would've happened if Zack's car hadn't gotten crushed at the end of the movie? Basically, I had this flash through my mind for a minute, and I instantly started writing a story, even though it was the middle of Economics class. I hope you like it.**_

"'Do Not Park. Zack Martin Exempted,'" Zack read.

He began to park the car, but no sooner had he pressed the gas pedal than Moseby was up in his face.

"Zackary Martin, there is no parking in this zone!"

"There is for me. I read the sign!" Zack said, smirking.

"Zack, this area is for shipping containers only! If you don't want your new car, and perhaps yourself as well, to be destroyed, I'd move. London's clothes are expected to be dropped in this vicinity within the hour!"

Zack frowned and obediently moved his car. He was NOT going to let his baby be crushed.

* * *

><p>Cody walked into his room and turned on the light, expecting to see his beautiful perpetual motion device, the assignment he was turning in for his final project, which was worth 60% of his grade.<p>

What he actually saw shocked him.

Most of the structure of the machine looked as if a quarterback had charged into it. The remains of the rest of the machine were strewn across the floor. Gears, chains, belts, and ball bearings lay scattered in all directions.

"Woody!"

"What?" Woody asked as he barreled in from the bathroom.

"I thought I told you not to touch this!" Cody yelled. "All my hard work... ruined," he cried.

"I didn't touch it."

"Who else could've?" Cody snapped.

"Well, Zack came in earlier looking-"

"Zack!" Cody charged out of the room searching for his brother before Woody could even finish his sentence.

* * *

><p>"Here is your Petunia Puree, Mrs. Pepperman," Zack said, handing the old woman the drink. "I don't understand how you drink that, anyway. Shouldn't the flowers taste like crap?"<p>

"Noooo!"

"Well, come back soon if you want to keep it on the menu. You're the only one that orders-"

"ZACK!"

"What?"

"Come with me!" Cody said, dragging Zack from behind the counter.

"What? Why?" Zack asked in bewilderment.

Cody refused to answer Zack's question.

"Where are we going?"

* * *

><p>Cody shoved Zack into the room and demanded an explanation.<p>

"Why did you do this?"

Zack sighed, feeling horrible for not telling Cody about it earlier. "It was an accident, Cody. I-"

"_You're_ an accident, Zack!"

"Hurtful!" Zack exclaimed, imitating Woody. "I really-"

"Really _what, _Zack? Really weren't thinking about destroying my future? Do you understand how much I want you to drop off the face of the earth right now?"

"Whoa. Didn't we just go through a whole thing where we learned to empathize with each other? You know, mad scientist, creepy twin army, threatened to merge our brains? We've still got the connections from that thing."

"No, Zack! You don't understand! This was worth sixty percent of my grade! Without it, I won't graduate!"

"Cody, I-"

"Zack, just leave me alone! Go find somebody else whose life you can ruin!"

"Please-"

"Ooh! Here's a thought: you have that fancy car. Why don't you get in it and drive away? 'Cause I couldn't care less if you never come back."

Zack's pleading face suddenly turned emotionless. He had wanted to apologize, but a person who made a comment like that didn't deserve an apology. He turned to face the exit and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Then he silently walked through the labyrinth of hallways to the elevator, took it to the lobby, stepped out and onto the gangplank, and left the ship.

Then he got in his fancy car and drove away.

_**A/N: How did I do? I feel like I do my best writing during class. Anyway, I've been working on this at an insane rate, so a new chapter might even be out today. Even if it's not, you won't have to wait the months I normally take for a new chapter. The only other thing I could ask you to do is review. So... I guess you should just press the link next to the pretty speech bubble.**_


	2. No Plan B

Zack Martin scowled as he sped down the highway. Cody had been mad at him before. Extremely mad. Mad enough to say they weren't brothers. Even mad enough to get out of their room for a week.

But he'd never told him to leave the place he lived for good.

'Course, he hadn't had a car those other times either.

Now that he was in his car, he was torn between driving around to let himself cool off and driving all the way to Boston to talk to Mom. On the one hand, Mom always made Zack feel better when Cody would get like this. Mom would explain why Cody acted in such a way, and even when Zack didn't quite understand, they would talk it out until both boys were calm enough to apologize to each other. On the other hand, Boston was a good distance away, and it would take a while to get there by car. Unable to choose, he pulled out his CD case.

Zack listened to Christian metal whenever he was angry. This was one of the things only Cody knew about him. It was like how he watched old Christian anime from the 80's when he was upset or how he listened to Demi Lovato when he felt generally unwell. Even Mom didn't know these things. She had always wondered why he had tapes upon tapes of _Superbook_ and _Flying House_ in his room.

Hmm... maybe he'd go home and watch some _Flying House._ But Mom would want to know why he was there, and he didn't particularly want to tell her, no matter how good she was at making him feel better at times like this.

Zack glanced at the CD he had pulled out of the case. It was the only one that wasn't entirely metal. He inserted it into the player, hoping a metal song would be first.

_Did you forget_

_That I was even alive?_

_Did you forget_

_Everything we ever had?_

_Did you forget?_

_Did you forget_

_About me?_

Ech, Demi Lovato. He was not in the mood right now, especially not for "Don't Forget." He pressed the button to skip to the next track. Manafest's "No Plan B" started to fill the car. Zack listened until the chorus.

_It's too late It's my fate_

_I can't turn around_

_There's no fear, in the mirror_

_To hold me down_

_I'm too far, from the start_

_Now I'm in too deep_

_I've got to stick to the plan_

_Cause there's "no Plan B"_

_No turning back (No plan B)_

_There's no other path, (No plan B)_

_And I know that this road is my destiny_

_I've got to stick to the plan_

_Cause there's no plan B_

Zack's face took on a strange expression. That was just a little too similar to his current situation. He skipped the track, hoping the next song was something angrier.

He got his wish. "Crimson Grim" by MyChildren MyBride blared out of the speakers.

_Through darkness, shadows, midnight waits,_

_Cold winds give scent to a lost __soul's fate._

_Viciously consuming, ripping limb from limb,_

_A lifeless body way past moving,_

_Crimson grim... crimson grim... crimson..._

Zack started to feel better, and he decided he would call Cody and see if he had settled down. He wondered if Cody knew he was listening to metal. He reached down for his phone, but it wasn't there. Realizing it had fallen into the floor, he began to search for it. He pulled up the charger cord, pulled the phone off, and began to dial.

But what would he say? "Hi, Cody. I'm sorry your machine was in the middle of the room?" It wasn't entirely his fault that the project had been destroyed. Cody could've put the machine somewhere safer where people wouldn't risk running into it just by coming into the room. Zack did acknowledge that he had been the one to physically destroy the machine, though, but really, Cody could've been less angry about it. He had already been accepted to Yale, and he could turn in pretty much anything and still graduate with an A+. Zack leaned over towards the glove compartment and opened it looking for his magic eight ball. It would tell him what to do.

But as Zack leaned over, he didn't see that he had just made a huge mistake.

_**A/N: I really don't quite like the ending to this chapter (and the chapter itself didn't quite live up to expectations either), but it's about as good as it's going to get. Also, I really wanted to get this out tonight while I was still excited about the Science Academic Team at my school getting third place at Area (it's more impressive than it sounds). If we end up making it to State (top 7% of all Area competitions), then I will be on a high all week and probably end up posting lots of new chapters over a very short amount of time.**_

_**Anyways, something about the next four chapters: chapters 2-5 occur within very short succession (minutes to an hour) of each other or simultaneously. Just thought I'd tell you now, before I actually started posting them. And after that, hopefully chapters will get longer as well. Reviews (especially **__**constructive ones) are appreciated.**_


	3. Romance Shift

Heads turned.

A tall, pale, blond young man collapsed onto the Sky Deck screaming.

As a crowd formed around the unkempt, disheveled body of the boy, a plain teenaged girl and an overweight boy pushed through the group of people, making their way to the frightened teenager lying in a heap on the ground.

Bailey was the first to speak up.

"Get out of here, you gawking freaks!" she said, shooing away the people that had gathered.

"Gawking freaks? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Woody asked.

"Sorry, I was having trouble thinking of a good insult with my boyfriend screaming on the floor!" Bailey snapped. "Cody, are you okay?"

"I don't know. That was the worst pain I'd ever experienced."

"Can you elaborate on that, honey?"

"I don't really know how to describe it. I guess I'd say it was like each bone in my body had broken into a quadrillion pieces. But the worst part was my head. It felt like my head was about to implode."

"Oh, god. We should get you to the infirmary."

"But it doesn't hurt anymore."

"What do you mean 'it doesn't hurt anymore?' How can it not hurt anymore?"

"It-I just-I'm not sure. It was like as soon as the pain had come, it was all whisked away. My body doesn't hurt; my head doesn't hurt. In fact, my head actually feels a little empty, kind of like something got taken out."

"Maybe we should take you to the infirmary, just to be safe."

"But Bailey, I'm fine!" Cody argued.

"Cody, _we're going to the infirmary."_ Bailey stated firmly.

So they all got up and went to the infirmary.

* * *

><p>After a trip to the infirmary revealed that Cody was indeed fine, the group trekked back up to the Sky Deck.<p>

Once they were up on the Sky Deck, they walked over to Easy Squeezy. Maya was working the counter.

"Hey, Maya. Why are you working behind the counter? I thought you were just a waitress," Bailey asked.

"Zack and I were the only employees scheduled to work this shift, but he didn't show, so I'm filling in for him," Maya explained.

"Well, I can't say it's not like him..." Cody started.

"Actually, it's _not_ like him. Not during one of our romance shifts, anyway."

"'Romance shifts?'" Woody asked.

"It's what we call a shift where we're completely alone. We have a chance to be romantic without the other employees around. He knew one of those was today, and he would never miss it. I hope he's not sick."

There was a pause.

"Come to think of it, when was the last time any of us saw Zack?" Bailey mused.

"The last time I saw him was when I got mad at him for destroying my final project," Cody said.

Woody's eyes widened. "You don't think he could've taken your suggestion seriously, do you?" Woody said.

"What suggestion?" Maya asked.

"Oh, Cody told Zack that he should get in his car, drive away, and never come back," Woody said with a smile, proud he could offer any information, even if it was depressing.

"You told him to leave the ship forever?" Maya exclaimed.

Cody started to defend himself. "It was the heat of the moment, I was angry-"

"I don't care _what_ you were," Maya said with a venomous hiss. "You find out where he is _right now_ and get him back on this boat ASAP!"

Cody sighed and pulled out his phone. To tell the truth, he was just as worried Zack had followed his suggestion as Maya was. He dialed Zack's number.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four.

_"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic-" _Cody shut the phone.

"So?" Maya asked, hopeful.

"No answer. It rang four times and went to voicemail."

"Oh, no! What if something horrible happened?"

"I doubt anything bad happened. He's probably driving around, listening to metal and trying to clear his head, and he just didn't hear his phone ring."

However, even though Cody put up a facade of calm, he couldn't shake the inexplicable feeling that something was terribly wrong. Too many odd things had happened today for Zack not answering his phone to be a fluke. But since he couldn't prove anything, it wasn't like he could do anything. All he could do was wait.

_**A/N: Would've had this up earlier, but I started working on it on Friday (after the not-getting-to-State-induced block wore off) only to leave for my internet-less mother. Then after coming home Monday night, I worked from midnight to 2:00 AM just to have the internet here go out. Other than that non-story related rant, pretty much nothing to say. Just... review, I guess.**_


	4. Never Alone

Cody stared at his phone.

He picked it up and checked it again.

Zack hadn't called back since Cody had called thirty minutes ago.

Cody had _never_ been unable to reach Zack. He had always been able to call Zack whenever, whereever, for whatever reason. It frightened Cody that he couldn't reach Zack now. He pondered calling again.

_I waited for you today_

_But you didn't show_

_No no no_

_I needed You today_

_So where did You go?_

_You told me to call_

_Said You'd be there_

_And though I haven't seen You_

_Are You still there?_

All of a sudden, Cody's phone started ringing. He looked at the screen.

It was Zack's number. Cody didn't hesitate to pick up.

"Hello, is this... Cody?"

Whoever was calling was _not_ Zack. It sounded like a woman.

"Yes. Why?" Cody said. He was very much confused as to what was going on.

"Well... we've tried to reach the contacts in Zack's phone labeled 'Mom' and 'Dad' multiple times, but they haven't picked up. You were the first contact on the list."

"Okay... may I ask who's calling?"

"Oh, sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Catherine. I'm a nurse at Yale-New Haven Hospital."

Cody startled. "Hos-hospital?"

The woman continued as if she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. "Yes. How do you know Zack?"

"I... I'm his twin brother. Is... is he okay?"

"Umm... not exactly. He was in a car accident."

"What?"

"He was in a car accident, and he's currently in a coma."

"But... I... are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm very sure. I'm so sorry. I have to go now, but if you need to know anything before you or your parents get here, you can call extension 83689. And try to reach your parents, okay? Since he's still under 18, he needs a parent or guardian here."

"Okay. I-I'll try to get to them." And he hung up.

Then something hit him. The pain he had felt an hour ago wasn't his pain—it was Zack's. With that kind of pain, no wonder Zack was in a coma.

Cody couldn't believe it. A car accident? This couldn't be happening.

He couldn't take it anymore. It was too much to process. He slid down his bedroom wall to the floor.

And without caring who heard him, he screamed.

_I cried out with no reply_

_And I can't feel You by my side_

_So I'll hold tight to what I know_

_You're here and I'm never alone_

Cody's eyes narrowed as he looked up feeling a mixture of remorse and other emotions over what he'd told Zack earlier. He stared at the partially destroyed machine still inhabiting the center of the room. He felt his body drown in a feeling of immense anger.

_And though I cannot see You_

_And I can't explain why_

_Such a deep, deep reassurance_

_You've placed in my life_

Cody's head swirled as thoughts ran through his mind. _Why Zack? It's all my fault. He was always there for me, and I destroyed that. Will he be okay? What if he doesn't make it?_

**I don't think I can live without him.**

_We cannot separate_

_'Cause You're part of me_

_And though You're invisible_

_I'll trust the unseen_

Slowly, Cody stood up, still looking at the damaged machine. He stared at the symbol of his guilt as he thought only one thing: _it cannot survive._

With all his might, he charged into the machine. As he made contact with the machine, the part of the structure that was still standing exploded into a shower of Magnetix, pencils, and everything else he had used to reinforce the structure of the machine. He stepped back and examined what he'd done. Half the structure was still intact. He took a running start and hit it again. Some parts of the machine were still relatively untouched. He rammed the remaining parts of the project again and again until he was reduced to ripping apart the rest of his pointless invention with his bare hands.

Then he lay face down in the carnage of his angry rampage and sobbed into the floor.

_I cried out with no reply_

_And I can't feel You by my side_

_So I'll hold tight to what I know_

_You're here and I'm never alone_

Awhile later (exactly how long Cody wasn't sure), two people came in to Cody's cabin.

"Cody, why are you lying on the floor?" Bailey asked, shocked.

"And why is your perpetual motion device in even more pieces than it was before?" Woody added.

The only sound that Cody's body emitted was a long, loud sob.

Bailey and Woody exchanged a worried look. "Come on, honey, how 'bout we get you out of this mess and you can tell us what's wrong?"

The two teens lifted Cody's body off of the floor and helped him to get to his bed. Once there, he had recovered enough composure to speak.

"It- it's- everything's a mess and... and... the entire world is wrong and it's all my fault!" Cody incoherently tried to explain.

"Sweetie, you're not making any sense."

"It's just... of all the things in the world, it had to be this."

"Had to be what?" Woody asked.

"It- H- It's all my fault." Cody cried.

"What is your fault, honey?" Bailey asked, this time very desperate for an answer.

Cody hesitated.

He sighed.

Then he let it all out.

"I... I g-got a... phone call," Cody started.

"Was it from Zack?" Woody asked.

"It was from his phone..."

"Well, that's good," Bailey interjected supportingly.

"...But it wasn't him," Cody finished.

"But who else could it be?" Woody asked quizzically.

"A woman was on the other end. She was calling from... f-from..." Cody started to break down again.

"From where?"

"Sh-she was calling from Y-Yale-New Haven H-Hospital."

"She was calling from _the_ Yale-New Haven Hospital?" Bailey exclaimed, planting her feet in the sea of disembodied structure as she stood up.

"I say 'hospital' and _that's_ what you get out of that? Zack was in a car accident, and I'm a blubbering mess, and all you can say is _'the_ Yale Hospital?'" Cody yelled at the girl who seemed to care about nothing else but her dream college.

"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying we know where it—wait." Bailey's face had taken on a strange expression, one of pain, shock, and what looked like a little bit of nausea. "Did you say Zack was in a car accident?"

"Yeah. The lady-the lady... said... he's in a... a coma," he said between the sobs that had started up again.

"Oh my God," Bailey said in disbelief, her voice breaking. "We're docked in Connecticut. Why aren't you there right now?"

"Well... they—they said they needed a parent or guardian."

"Have you tried calling your mom?" Woody replied.

"N-not exactly. As soon as I heard the news, I..." Cody paused to let out a particularly long sob, "I destroyed the rest of the machine and cried into the floor," he said, now crying very hard.

"Why not try to reach her? Or your dad?" Bailey suggested.

Cody nodded. He followed her advice and pulled out his phone. He first tried to reach his mother, calling several times but having each of his calls sent straight to voicemail, an indication that her phone was off or dead. _Dead. _He couldn't think of that word right now. That word would lead to... bad thoughts. Pushing the word out of his mind, he then tried to reach his dad, but it was only after two calls went unanswered that he realized that Dad was playing some big fair or something today. He inwardly scowled that his parents were too busy to answer or even charge their phones, but he couldn't really blame them. They did need the money. Especially now.

"They didn't answer?" Bailey asked.

"No. Mom's phone..." Cody paused, unable to use the word in his mind, "...isn't charged, and Dad's playing some sort of daytime concert," Cody replied, holding back tears.

As the three retreated into thought, the room filled with silence, which was punctuated with occasional whimpers and sniffs from Cody as he attempted to bridle his emotions. A few minutes later, Woody spoke up.

"Do you think Moseby could pass as a guardian? I mean, he does look after us on the ship."

"Woody, that's an amazing idea!" Bailey said.

Woody swelled with pride. "Well, I may not be a Yalie, but I can come up with a good idea!"

Bailey rolled her eyes, and the group ran up to the lobby, where Moseby was nowhere to be seen. They learned from an employee that he had gone to the Sky Deck. They raced to the Sky Deck just in time to see that the ship was pulling away from the dock.

"NO!" Cody screamed, crashing down onto the Sky Deck as his emotions spewed out of him. Moseby, noticing Cody's eruption, sped over.

"What's going on here? And if it's Zack's doing, I don't want to hear about it." Upon hearing those words, an upset shout escaped from Cody's mouth as he fell even farther into the sea of emotions flowing out of his core.

"Umm... Mr. Moseby..." Bailey started, "Zack was in a car accident."

"What?" Moseby said, taken aback. "Cody, I am terribly sorry about what I said and about your brother."

Cody didn't answer.

"Uhh... we were kinda trying to find you to see if you could act as Cody's guardian and take him to the hospital," Woody said.

"Oh, you want me to act _in loco parentis?"_ Moseby replied.

"You don't have to act crazy, you just have to be Cody's parental figure."

"Woody, _'in loco parentis' _means 'in the place of a parent.' It means Mr. Moseby has the power to make decisions in Cody's best interests," Bailey explained.

"Oh. Well, it's too late now."

Moseby turned to Cody. "Cody, I'll try to contact your parents, but I won't be able to get you off the ship before the next stop unless your life is in danger," he said, resting his hand on Cody's shoulder. "And I truly am very sorry."

But Cody didn't seem to be paying attention. He was leaning against the railing and bawling his eyes out. He continued to lean against the railing as he stared at the diminishing landmass until it became a tiny speck and, finally, it disappeared.

_**A/N: Finally! Another chapter done! I gotta say it turned out way better than I thought it would. I've been blocked for a couple weeks and I just recently came up with the ending to this. And even though it's not exactly what I wanted, I'm satisfied. Honestly, this was originally chapter five, but I felt it was better and more detailed than the original fourth chapter, which was a bit too revealing and not revealing enough all at the same time. If that makes sense.**_

_**The song I used in this chapter ("Never Alone" by BarlowGirl) was the inspiration for this entire story. I was reading another Suite Life fanfic (**_**Out of Control**_** by Stori Brooke) and (though not by name) she mentioned the song in one of her chapters. I realized I knew the song and looked it up to listen to it. It's a Christian song, but I thought it demonstrated the connection between Cody and Zack well. That being said I'm probably never writing a songfic/chapter again because I feel like I stink at it.**_

_**Something I want to say about reviews: As much as I love getting reviews that say, "I LOVE IT! Can't wait to see what happens! UPDATE!," it's much more rewarding to get constructive criticism like, "I enjoyed the chapter, but you need to work on your transitions," or "You need to work on the way the characters express emotion," or even "This story stinks and here's why: the plot's weak, the word choice is unoriginal, and can the platypus character have a girlfriend? :D" Seriously, though, the "I love it" reviews make me feel like the sun is shining on me but constructive criticism makes me feel like I'm in a sauna that's on fire in a volcano on the sun. In other words, I feel like I'm about to burst into flame from the glow inside me.**_

_**In conclusion, please press the pretty blue link and leave a constructive review!**_


	5. In Danger

_**A/N: Bonus points to anyone who can spot an allusion to a line from one of my favorite books.**_

Cody sat in his bedroom sulking at the tragedy that life had become just in the last couple of hours. His brother was in the hospital, his parents weren't answering their phones, and he wouldn't be able to get off this useless floating hunk of metal until the ship docked again. The only good thing was that the ship's next port was Boston, so if he didn't reach his parents by the time they docked, he could just go straight to Mom's suite. He even still had their room key.

To complicate matters, however, the ship was operating at reduced speed because part of the propulsion system needed to be repaired, so instead of getting there in half a day (or fifteen and a half hours, to be precise), they'd be reaching Boston in two days.

Two days too many wasted on this monument to laziness. He wanted off now. He wanted to talk to his parents now. He needed to see his brother.

_Now._

The voice of Mr. Moseby ran through his head:

_I won't be able to get you off the ship before the next stop unless your life is in danger._

Why could he not get that sentence out of his head? It just reminded him of the distance between him and his brother. He had to get his mind off this.

But he couldn't. There was no way. Every minute, there was a new thought going through his head.

_How badly is he hurt?_

Tick.

_What will he be like if—when—he wakes up?_

Tick.

_Will he remember us? Will he remember me?_

Tick.

_Will he still be able to do all those things he's amazingly good at? The art, the joking, and even the pranking?_

Tick.

_Will he be the same Zack?_

A door opening and closing brought Cody out of his thoughts. Woody had walked in.

"Hey, buddy. I know you wanna be alone. I'm just here to grab my hoodie, and then I'm out."

"Woody?" Cody started sullenly.

"Yeah?"

"Do—do you think... Zack will be okay?" Cody asked.

Woody hesitated, then finally said something. "I... I'm sure he'll be fine," he said, putting on a sympathetic smile.

He didn't really mean it. Nobody Cody had asked did. They meant well, yes, but they were lying through their teeth. Zack's future was uncertain. Everyone knew it.

And everyone was afraid to say it.

"Well," Woody spoke, "if you decide you want to talk to someone, I'll be on the Sky Deck or in the game room. And you have mine and Bailey's numbers." With that, Woody left.

Being alone again, Cody fell back into his thoughts.

_You know he won't be the same when he wakes up._

Tick.

_He probably has multiple broken bones and a pretty bad head injury._

Tick.

_He'll probably have trouble doing lots of things when he wakes up. _IF _he wakes up._

Tick.

_You won't be able to get off the ship before the next stop._

Tick.

_Unless your life is in danger._

There was that thought again.

But it seemed different this time.

Somehow deeper. Somehow... appealing.

Was Cody Martin actually contemplating putting his life in danger?

He'd have to be suicidal to consider that.

No. No.

_No._

He was not suicidal. He had never been suicidal. He will never be suicidal.

So why was he even thinking about this?

Did he really want to be with his brother so much that he would risk his own life?

Yes, yes he did.

However, he knew that he shouldn't do it.

And when Cody knew he shouldn't do something, he didn't do it.

So, he wouldn't.

But the idea was awfully tempting.

So tempting it was scaring him.

He needed out. Out of this room, out of this deck, out of this ship. Out to his brother's bedside where he belonged.

Most importantly, he needed to talk to someone. He didn't want to do it, but it had to be done.

And he knew it.

He pulled out his phone and tried to call Bailey, only to remember that her phone had been confiscated by Mr. Auckepenny during Wednesday's lab.

He sighed, realizing he had no choice but to leave the private comfort of his bed and his bedroom to find someone he could talk to. He walked into the bathroom and attempted to straighten up his disheveled appearance to no avail. Oh, well. He didn't care what people thought of him right now.

He grabbed his phone and ventured out of his cabin and up to the Sky Deck, which was oddly empty. The only people there were a young couple, Mrs. Gergely, and Maya.

Maya. He could talk to Maya.

He made his way across the empty deck to the smoothie counter.

"Hi, Maya."

Maya looked up, her face almost immediately transforming from a smile into an expression of shock. "Whoa, Cody, what happened? Why are you such a mess?" She paused, then continued with worry in her voice, "It doesn't have anything to do with Zack, does it?"

"You mean you don't know?" He had assumed Woody or Bailey would have told her.

Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to talk to Maya.

"Don't know what?" she said.

Cody felt the tears and torment break out of where he had locked them deep within himself.

"Umm—" he began, pushing back sobs and sorrow that threatened to cut the thin thread of composure that he had managed to keep.

"Uhh... Zack... ah..." his voice cracked as he tried to start again.

"Zack what?"

"He... ah, um..." Cody sniffed. "He was in... in a car accident."

"What?" Maya yelled, startling the few people on the Sky Deck.

The thread broke, and he tried to dam his eyes from releasing their emotional brine. "Um, wh-when we were at port in New Haven, he... he got in a car crash, and he's in the hospital."

Cody could no longer hold it back. The salty solution overflowed from his eyes and poured down his face.

Maya stepped out from her post and sat in one of the orange barstools surrounding the counter.

"Wow," she said, as if that one word summed up the entire situation.

Cody started ranting as though she hadn't said anything. "Bailey, Woody, and I came up to get off the ship, and it was leaving port. And I can't reach my parents, and I destroyed the rest of my project. I wish I hadn't said that stuff to him this morning!"

"Cody, it's okay," Maya said as she held back her own tears. With no hint of doubt in her voice, she said, "I'm sure you'll get a chance to apologize."

"That's not it! If I hadn't told him to leave because he was ruining my life, he probably would've stayed on the ship, and none of this would've happened. It's all my fault this happened to him!"

"Cody... even though you _did_ tell him to go away, it was still his choice to do it. And you certainly didn't make him get into an accident. This is in no way your fault."

"Well, it sure feels like it's my fault."

"It's not."

"Can we stop talking about this? I didn't really come up here to discuss the details of the accident with you. I figured Woody or Bailey had told you already."

"Then what did you come up here for?"

"Uh, well... Mr. Moseby said that I couldn't get off the boat unless my life was in danger, and I... I keep having thoughts about... well... putting my life in danger."

Maya gasped. "Cody Martin, are you trying to say that you're contemplating suicide?"

"Shh. Not so loud!" he said, fearing someone might hear him and refer him to Mr. Blanket or something. "That's why I came to you. I don't want Woody or Bailey or Moseby to know about this. I don't want to think this stuff, and I certainly don't want to do it, but it's so tempting that I felt like I needed to talk to someone."

"But Cody, this is dangerous. I can't just not tell anybody!"

"Please, Maya. I promise you I'm not suicidal. I think I just... have a lot going on, so I'm not thinking clearly."

Maya sighed. "Fine. I'll keep it secret for now. But if I have so much as a fleeting thought that you'll go through with this, I'm telling someone."

"Okay. I guess that's fair," Cody said. "I just want to see him so much."

"Why don't you try to call your mom again?"

"She hasn't picked up any of the other times. Why would she pick up now?"

"She can't leave her phone unanswered forever. Besides, what harm could it do?"

"I guess you're right." Cody wearily pulled out his phone and pressed the call button twice, calling the last number he had dialed, his mom.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three—

"Hello?"

_**A/N: Ooh. What do you think is going to happen next? Don't be afraid to say something other than "LOVE it. Update more." Tell me how the chapter made you feel, what you think I need to work on, and what you think will happen next! Who knows; your review might make me think and change the course of my story! Go ahead; there's the pretty blue link. Press it!**_


	6. Faking It

_**A/N: Welcome to fanfiction, the site where it's all made up and the points don't matter! :D Points to anyone who notices the snippet of a line from the TSL episode "Prince and the Plunger." However, the points are more useless than hug coupons, so don't freak out looking for it.**_

Woody, donning his green hooded sweatshirt, stepped into the game lounge. It was densely packed, so it was hard to find a game. He finally settled on the only game with an open spot, Galaxy Raiders, with London as his opponent.

They had been playing the game for a couple rounds when London abruptly paused the game just as she was about to shoot Woody's character for the 453rd time.

"What's up with you? Normally, even two-year-olds can beat me at this game!"

"It's just... Cody's been really upset since the accident with Zack, and—"

"What accident with Zack?" London said, her tone suggesting she was much less worried than she actually was.

Woody hesitated. "He got in a car accident," he replied quietly.

The world inside London momentarily froze; however, she still managed to project a facade of indifference as she said, "Go on."

"Anyway, I've been thinking. Mr. Moseby said that Cody couldn't get off the boat unless his life was in danger, but I bet they'd let him go with me if they thought my life was in danger."

"Uh-huh." London nodded.

"Basically, I was going to fake something, and have somebody tell Cody to go with me. But I don't know who I could ask to help me, and I don't—"

London cut him off. "I'll help you."

* * *

><p>"Hello?"<p>

Cody jumped and almost dropped the phone upon hearing the voice on the other end.

"M-mom?"

"Yeah, you called me, remember? I can't wait to see you two when the ship docks here," she said, her cheerful demeanor a chilling indication that she still had no idea what had happened. Cody stayed silent, unable to will the words he wanted so desperately to say out of his lungs. The line was quiet at both ends for an awkward moment.

"Cody? Is everything okay?"

"Uh, ahm, I have something to tell you," he began.

"Okay..." she said.

"Umm... Zack was... he..." Cody started, not quite knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Yes?" she said with more than a hint of worry in her voice.

"Eh... okay, so this morning, when we were in New Haven, I got really mad at Zack for destroying my final project, and I told him to drive away forever. So he did, and then he wouldn't answer his phone, then someone called from his phone, but it wasn't him. It was this lady from Yale-New Haven Hospital, and—and she said Zack crashed his car and was in a coma," he blurted out the entire story rather quickly, becoming more and more choked up as he went along. By the time he was finished, tears were streaming down his face once again, and silent sobs shook his shattered structure. The line was silent for a few more moments.

"Mom?"

A quiet sob escaped Carey's lips before she spoke up. "So what do you think we should do? Should I go to him right now? Or wait for you and then go?" she said, not really speaking to Cody and sounding as if she were on the verge of tears. Cody figured she was probably as white as a ghost.

"Well, I need someone waiting for me when the ship docks. What's Dad doing?"

"Your father! Your father..." Carey started quietly. "Maybe he can go there now. Even though I really want to see Zack now, maybe it'd be best if I call your father and have him go to Zack now and I'll wait for the ship to dock and then we'll go," she finished.

Cody considered the idea. "Yeah, I guess that's the best we'll get right now," he finally replied with a sigh. "I wish I had a way off this hunk of junk."

"Don't worry, honey. You'll see Zack soon enough. I'll be standing right in front when the ship docks, so try to tough it out until then, okay?" Carey's voice sounded disconnected and faraway, almost as if she hadn't meant the words she had just spoken. Cody didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, Mom, I'll try," he said, his face pulling into a small, sad smile.

"Okay, sweetie. W-where did you say Zack was?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.

"Umm... Yale-New Haven Hospital. The lady who called said that if you had any questions or anything to call the extension 83689. The woman's name was... uhh... Catherine, I think," he said, surprised that he had remembered that information through all the chaos of the day's events.

"Okay, thank you, honey," she said quietly. "I need to hang up on you so I can call your father and tell him what's going on. I love you," she ended as though she might never say it to him again.

"Love you, too."

And with that the call was over. Cody glanced around the Sky Deck. The couple that had been sharing dinner were now gone, and Mrs. Gergely was wandering aimlessly around the deck as if she had no purpose if there wasn't a person to hit with her purse. Mr. Moseby had come up onto the deck and ventured towards the Easy Squeezy for a smoothie. Cody noticed that Maya was no longer behind the counter and Tom had taken her place. He quickly surveyed the deck for her and spotted her coming out of the restroom wearing her normal clothes.

"So, how did the conversation with your mom go?" she called out.

"Oh, Cody you got in touch with your mother?" Mr. Moseby piped up.

"I told her about what happened to Zack and she got all quiet. She sounded really freaked out."

"Well, that's expected," Maya said.

"Yeah, but then she stayed... surprisingly calm and devised a plan for when I get there and when we go see Zack." He paused. "I was kinda expecting her to scream into the phone like I almost did when I found out. It's... weird."

"Hmm. Maybe she's just being courteous to the people around her. She does still live in a hotel," Maya remarked.

"Yes, and I heard that the manager that replaced me is a lot less lenient with racket and disorder than I was," Moseby added.

"I guess that could have something to do with it," he sighed.

At that moment, Woody and London walked insouciantly onto the deck. They looked to be in the midst of an intense conversation. Then Woody abruptly fell to the floor.

"Oh, no!" London exclaimed woodenly. "Woody has fallen onto the deck. I think he might have... orange-osis! It looks like his life is danger!"

Moseby attempted to interrupt. "London, what are—"

"Perhaps Cody should accompany him as he receives medical care!"

Maya tried next. "London, why—"

"We shall not tarry—"

Cody yelled over London. "London, stop!" he said exhaustedly, as if this were yet another thing he was tasked with dealing with on this dreadfully dismal day. London, finally paying attention, shut up and allowed Cody to continue.

"I understand where you're coming from, really, but you didn't have to do this. I got in touch with Mom, and we have a plan for when the ship docks in Boston."

"But don't you want to see your brother now?"

"I would give anything to see Zack, but I don't think giving someone else a life-threatening illness or injury, or having them fake one," Cody glanced down at Woody, "is the way to go about it. I appreciate what you tried to do, but even though it's pure torture, I can wait two days to see Zack."

Woody was still lying on the deck. Cody nudged him forcefully with his foot.

"Get up, you doof."

"Hurtful!" he said as he got up.

Cody ignored him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Mom would be even more freaked out if both of us weren't on the boat, especially since I said I would meet her when the ship docks."

"Are you absolutely sure you can handle it?" London asked one final time. Cody knew if anyone could get him off of the boat mid-transit, it was London, so he had no idea what compelled him to say the next words that came out of his mouth.

"Yes; I'll be fine."

But he wasn't completely sure that was true.

**_A/N: Ah… so Cody's finally inching closer to seeing Zack… but not yet. This chapter, I feel, was less eventful than other chapters, but I didn't want to combine it with another chapter, and I couldn't leave it out, so this is what you get. Feel free to leave a review! Constructive criticism is always welcome!_**


	7. The Arrival

Two days later, Cody, Maya, Bailey, Woody, and London leaned against the railing of the ship, standing as close as they could to where the gangway would be attached so they could get off of the ship as soon as possible.

The ship slowly pulled into port, and the gangway was attached to the boat. As soon as it was firmly attached, the group bolted down the long flight of stairs before anybody standing on the dock could make their way up.

However, when they reached the ground, Carey Martin was nowhere to be seen.

Cody immediately started to break down. "She-she... she's not coming!" he exclaimed as he regressed into sobs. He had made it two days, and now this happened.

"Honey, calm down," Bailey cajoled. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

Maya spoke up. "Yeah. Even though she said she'd be standing in front, it's completely possible she got tangled up in a crowd this big. We'll find her."

"I'll go look for her!" Woody said, and he started to run off in search of the sobbing boy's mother.

He tripped and fell flat on his face no more than ten feet from where the other four stood. He turned around and walked back toward the group. "On second thought, why don't we wait for her to show up?"

Cody broke down even more. "There's no time to wait!" he blurted out. "The more time we spend without finding Mom, the more time it'll take to get to Zack! I can't handle not being with him anymore!" he yelled as he grabbed Woody's shirt and violently shook him.

"I just... need... to see him," he cried, sinking down onto the dock as tears fell from his eyes. The others crowded around him as they attempted to console him.

Suddenly, a voice popped up behind them.

"Hi," it said sadly.

Everyone, including Cody, looked up. The dock was now largely empty.

As they turned around, they saw none other than Carey Martin.

"Mom!" Cody said, getting up and running to her.

"Oh... baby..." she said quietly as she hugged her younger son tightly. "I am _so_ sorry I wasn't standing in front like I promised, or even somewhere conspicuous... how are you holding up, sweetie?"

"Okay... I guess," he said as he tried to squelch his sobs. "Well, as okay as I can be, knowing that Zack's—"

"I know," she said.

"Can we get going?" he asked, anxious to finally see his brother.

"Yeah, sure. Your dad's already there, and he told me Zack's been moved to the seventh floor of the children's hospital. If we go now, we can be there in three hours."

"Umm... excuse me," Bailey piped up, "can we come, too?"

Carey looked up, slightly surprised, and hesitated a little before speaking.

"Oh... you must be Bailey," Carey replied. "I recognize you from the pictures Cody sent me... and you are Woody, Cody's roommate, right?" Woody quickly nodded. "Hi, London," Carey spoke, "and thanks," she added.

"And who are you?" Carey asked the one person she hadn't identified.

"Uh, I'm Maya, Z—Zack's... girlfriend," Maya answered.

"Oh... so _you're _Maya. I've heard so much about you..." Carey said with a solemn smile, her sentence trailing off. She paused, then spoke to the four friends. "Well, I guess you guys can come, but I'm not sure you can all be in there at the same time, and the visiting hours are from 11 am to 8 pm. Cody, those visiting hours go for you, too."

"What? But I'm his brother!" Cody could feel tears welling up again.

"I know, sweetie, but it's hospital rules. Your dad and I will make sure you're in Zack's room no later than 11 on the dot and you don't have to leave until 8 on the nose. I'm sure you'd be in there with him 24/7 if you could," Carey said in an attempt to soothe Cody.

"Fine," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Let's get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can see Zack." The group began to walk to the parking lot.

London cleared her throat. "Y'know, taking a car is slow. I could take us all on my private jet, and it would cut our travel time in half."

Carey opened her mouth to say that it really wasn't necessary, but she stopped when her son enveloped the girl in a tight hug.

* * *

><p>An hour and a half later, Carey, Cody, and the gang could feel the nervous anticipation building as they drove into the Air Rights Garage. They were mere minutes from walking into the hospital and seeing Zack.<p>

Carey pulled the car into a parking space and turned off the engine. Everyone awkwardly sat there for a couple seconds before getting out and heading to the skywalk that would take them into the York Street entrance of the hospital. A stifling silence was spread throughout the group. They slowly advanced down the skywalk, looking up at the large, sprawling building before them as they neared closer and closer to the hospital's doors. They finally arrived at the entrance and walked inside.

Once inside, they made their way through the maze of hallways within the medical center. As they walked, Bailey took in the sights and sounds. She had, like Cody, already gotten accepted to Yale and had sent the form confirming her enrollment at her earliest possible opportunity. She hadn't yet declared her major, but she knew where she wanted to end up.

She was going to be a pediatric surgeon.

However, as she walked through the passageways, especially as they neared the West Pavilion, where the Children's Hospital was located, she became more and more unsure of herself. On the one hand, she wanted so badly to be able to end the suffering many of these children were going through. On the other hand, she couldn't take how frail and vulnerable some of the children she'd caught a glimpse of had seemed. She could feel tears welling up, and by the time everyone had reached the elevators, a few were running down her face. She tried to wipe them away before anyone noticed, but after Carey pressed the button to call the elevator, Cody looked at her.

"Are you okay, Bailey?" he asked.

"Yeah... fine. Just... worried about Zack, I guess," she lied. Well, it wasn't completely a lie. She _was_ worried about Zack, but that wasn't the only reason she was crying.

The elevator doors opened, saving Bailey from elaborating, and the group piled in. Carey pressed "7," and the elevator began its ascent. The small box was eerily silent, no one inside daring to speak a word as they neared their final destination. The elevator arrived at the chosen floor and was promptly emptied of its cargo.

The group briefly stood outside the elevator until Cody and Carey spotted Kurt in a place marked "Family Reflection Room." Kurt got up from his seat, and the family made their way toward each other.

"Hey," Carey said.

"Hey," Kurt replied. He shifted his gaze to Cody.

"Codester, how you doing?" Cody was tired of repeatedly answering that question, so all Kurt got in reply was a shrug.

"That good, huh?" he said, patting Cody on the back. "Well, we can go in to see Zack. I'm sure you want to do that." Cody nodded vigorously.

"Okay, let's do it, but umm... you guys will have to wait outside," Kurt said to the other teens. "They only want family in right now." Maya, Bailey, London, and Woody nodded solemnly in understanding and went into the Family Reflection Room to wait.

Carey, Cody, and Kurt walked into the PICU. Kurt talked with the nurse about Cody, and she quickly determined that Cody was allowed to visit. She led them over to Zack's room, and the family stood outside.

Cody was finally going to see his brother.

_**A/N: Truthfully… this story was ready to be posted a couple of days ago. The reason it wasn't was because I got really sick during the revision process, and, well, my writing/revising is no good when I'm that sick.**_

_**So, we're closer to seeing Zack than ever. How's that make you feel? …Yeah… I'm not gonna try to make any sort of small talk in this note. Just go review the danged thing.**_


	8. I'm Ready

_**A/N: I haven't updated anything in awhile, I know. I was planning on writing a Thanksgiving (later transformed to Christmas) story, which didn't get finished in the amount of time I wanted it to. It might end up getting posted in July or something. Anyways, I'm back to writing this, I guess. On to the story!**_

"Now," the nurse began, "I need to tell you two about the extent of Zack's injuries before you can see him."

"Okay," Carey said quietly. Cody silently stood beside her in solemn anticipation as he waited for the nurse to tell them of Zack's injuries.

"First, the accident Zack was in was a side collision. From what witnesses and others involved in the crash have said, Zack's car drifted into the left lane of I-95 going north. A vehicle was coming up behind him and couldn't slow down before it hit him. It slammed into the driver-side door of Zack's car, and because his car didn't have any airbags, Zack took on a great deal of the impact. Since the crash occurred after a slight curve in the road at the top of a hill, the cars were somewhat concealed from view, and a few more cars weren't able to slow down much before they reached the two cars. However, they were able to attempt to swerve around the cars, which spared Zack from being impacted directly a second time, though his car was hit again in other areas."

Tears fell from the eyes of the entire Martin family as the nurse finished the account of the accident.

"Now, about Zack's injuries. He is, as you have been informed, in a coma. He has a rating of three on the Glasgow Coma Scale. That means he has a severe brain injury. In addition, he's got several broken bones. His leg, wrist, arm, two fingers, and some of his ribs are broken. He's also intubated and on a ventilator to help him breathe."

The Martin family still remained more or less silent, Kurt's face creased in concern, for he had already seen the condition that the older Martin twin was in, and Carey and Cody still standing anxiously outside his room, holding back tears.

"You can go in whenever you're ready," the nurse finished, walking away.

The entire family turned toward the door, preparing to walk into the room.

Except Cody.

"I'm… I'm not sure if I want to go in there," he said sadly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Why not?" Carey asked, walking over to her son's side.

Cody stood quietly for a couple seconds before answering. "I don't wanna see him like that," he cried as tears rolled down his face.

Before either of his parents could answer, he continued. "He's lying vulnerable in a hospital bed with a bunch of casts on, connected to a machine with a tube shoved down his throat! I don't want to see him that way!" he sobbed. Cody couldn't bring up the fact that, up until two days ago, he had been feeling everything his brother had, and now, he felt nothing. He couldn't bring up how much that freaked him out. Kurt and Carey didn't even know about the Gemini Project; they thought he'd been at the marine biology laboratory all spring break. And he wouldn't bring up how guilty he felt about the whole accident.

His parents were silent as he looked down, sobbing, at his feet.

After half a minute of silence, Kurt spoke up. "Codes... I know it's hard to have Zack be in the hospital like this. And I know you don't want to go in there because you're scared of what you might see. But trust me, I've been in there dozens of times over the past two days, and it's not as bad as it seems."

"I don't care. I can't see him like that," he gulped, shaking his head stubbornly.

Kurt looked over to Carey, his face pleading for help.

"Cody," she started, "you've been going on about how much you wanted to see Zack all day. It's all you talked about on the trip over. You wouldn't let anyone get a word in edgewise. You talked for a full ten minutes just about how much you wanted to hold his hand and tell him everything would be okay," she said with a slight whine as she ended her sentence. "And now, everything you've said means nothing?"

"Well... no. Not—not nothing. It's just..." He let his sentence trail off as tears silently slid down his face.

Carey sighed as she rested her hand on the shoulder of her son. "Honey... I understand why you don't want to go in there. To be honest, I'm scared, too. But I know one thing: Zack would want you in there."

Cody pleadingly looked up into his mother's eyes.

"In fact, I think that if there's any one person that needs to be in there the most, it's you," she continued, smiling weakly at the younger twin. "You guys have been together since the beginning, and now would be a bad time to stop."

"But..." Cody searched for a reason not to go into the room, even a fabricated one, so that he could avoid seeing the biggest and most glaring symbol of his guilt.

Carey interrupted his thoughts. "We're all going in together. You won't be alone. We can wait to go in until you're ready."

Cody stared at his mother's soft expression for a short while longer as he thought.

_I want to see Zack, _he thought, _but I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it. This guilt is too much. I wonder if Mom would understand if I told her... _

_No... I can't. She doesn't need to know._

_What to do, what to do?_

_I don't even deserve to see Zack. I blame him for everything, even when it's not his fault or he just made a mistake._

_Look where that got us._

_Then again, Zack _does _need the whole family right now. _I _need the whole family right now._

_We _all _need the whole family right now, _he thought, glancing over at his father, who was looking at him with a saddened expression, before returning his gaze to his mother's kind eyes.

_Maybe... seeing Zack will help me..._

Finally he said, "I'm ready."

With Cody finally ready, the family walked towards the door and entered the room.

_**A/N: …And she ends it. You probably thought you were going to see Zack this chapter, weren't you? Yeah… me, too. But I felt I needed the events in this chapter to be in the story, and after I began writing it, I decided I didn't want the "seeing Zack for the first time" scene and all its baggage in the same chapter as this scene. But hey, at least you got more insight into his condition. And rest assured, he WILL be there next chapter! He has to be, since they just went into his room. Anyway, feel free to leave me a totally awesome review listing all the things I did right AND all the things I did wrong! Go ahead; the pretty yellow speech bubble calls out to you.**_


	9. Seeing Zack

Kurt, Carey, and Cody walked quietly into the room, and Cody got his first glimpse of Zack.

It wasn't a pretty picture.

A large cast ran up the length of Zack's left leg. A similarly large cast encased his left arm, extending to cover his middle and index fingers. On his right arm was a smaller cast covering his forearm and wrist. All three were orange, his favorite color.

A tube emerged from Zack's mouth and snaked over to a machine Cody knew was the ventilator. Zack's head was encompassed in a bandage that wasn't quite white. It was tinged with dried blood and obscured his normally voluminous blond hair. There were cuts and scratches all over his face, though most were on the left side. Some were deep enough to require stitches.

_Well, Zack always said chicks dig scars, _Cody thought, attempting to lighten his mood. But all it did was make him feel worse. Why should he be joking on such a serious occasion?

Cody looked deeply into Zack's face. It wore a peaceful, almost ethereal, expression. It almost made Cody cry. He looked away and surveyed the room. There were three chairs and a recliner near the bed his brother was currently lying in. On one wall was an open door that led to a bathroom. In the far corner, he could see a lounge chair that was pulled out into a bed, which was currently unmade. Next to the pulled-out bed was a small desk and another chair. The entire room was painted in blue and green and decorated with pictures of sea life.

"Cody, you can sit down," Kurt said, snapping Cody back to reality. He noticed that his father was sitting on the left side of Zack's bed with his chair pulled close to the bed, while his mother sat on the right. He walked over to the recliner sitting on the right side of the bed and sat down, pulling his knees up to his chest. Carey grabbed Zack's hand. Cody continued to look around the room, unable to look at his brother in his current condition.

Kurt took notice of Cody's behavior. "Nice digs, huh?" he remarked dryly.

Cody frowned as he squirmed in his chair. "It reminds me too much of the ship," he said flatly, continuing to avert his gaze from his brother. He looked down.

The room remained in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Kurt traced his finger on Zack's blanket while Carey rubbed her thumb over the back of Zack's fingers as she stared at Cody, who was looking at his feet and taking fleeting glances to his left, in the direction of his brother, then, just as quickly, looking away. Carey spoke up.

"Cody, why won't you look at your brother?" she asked gently.

Cody looked up at her like a prized show puppy that had been caught digging in the trash. Had it really been that obvious?

His mother stared at him, awaiting an answer but not demanding one. Cody opened his mouth and attempted to say something.

"I—I… I don't know," he said, even though he knew full well why he wouldn't look.

Kurt seemed to have caught on to what Cody was hiding as he said, "It's all my fault."

Cody, surprised, looked at his father with sad eyes. Kurt continued.

"If… I hadn't given him that car… the car didn't have any airbags. If he'd had a car that was safer, a car with airbags… he wouldn't have gotten hurt this badly. I did this to him. It's all my fault."

"Kurt, you don't have to blame yourself for this," Carey said.

"Yeah, I do. I know how he drives. I made the mistake of giving him a car that wasn't safe enough. It's all my fault."

"No, it's not," Cody interjected. "It's all _my_ fault."

"What?" Carey said.

"What do you mean?" Kurt added. "How could any of this have possibly been your fault?"

Cody sniffed as he tried to prevent the tears from coming back up to the surface.

"I… I told him to leave. He accidentally broke my final project, but I was so mad at him that the fact that it was an accident didn't register. I… I…" He began to sob.

"I just kept yelling at him, and I wouldn't listen to him at all. I didn't even let him get a word in edgewise! I told him he had a fancy car that he could use to drive away. Then he just… left. The last thing I said to him before this happened was that I wouldn't care if he never came back," he ended quietly, breaking down into sobs and tears.

Kurt and Carey looked each other in the eye, finally knowing how Cody truly felt. Neither dared to say a word to each other. Kurt got up and walked to the right side of the bed. He knelt down in front of Cody.

"Cody…" he sighed, "look at me." Cody peeked out the smallest amount possible at his father.

"C'mon… a little bit more than that," he coaxed. Cody pulled his head all the way up. His face wore a pitiful expression as he tried to quiet his sobs in order to listen to his father.

"I know what you're thinking. You think this is all your fault. But it's not your fault. And it's not my fault. And it's not your mom's fault, or any of your friends' faults. It's not even the fault of the person who hit him. It was an accident. It's in the past. We just have to deal with it and work in the present… and look to the future," he said.

"You didn't do anything to cause this," he finished.

"Then why do I feel like I did?" Cody asked.

Carey answered. "Because… honey… we all want to take the blame for this. We all want it to be someone's fault so someone can get punished. If it's no one's fault, then no one takes the blame and no one gets punished. We want to blame someone, even ourselves, because we just want retribution for what happened," she said.

Cody sighed. "Yeah… I guess… but I still feel like it's my fault."

"We all do, honey. But in reality, it was no one's fault. You didn't mean for this to happen. No one meant for this to happen. It was just a very unfortunate accident." She got up and gave her son a hug. Kurt followed suit, and the three engaged in a loving embrace. After they stopped hugging, Carey and Kurt returned to their seats.

Cody looked over at his brother. He had thought he would need to hold back tears like he did the first time. But it wasn't that bad.

_**A/N: I'm going to make one thing clear: I DO NOT like the way this chapter ended. But at the same time, I couldn't have ended it any other way (believe me, I tried). Anyways, I bet you weren't expecting a new chapter this soon, right? :P I want to write the next chapter soon (and hopefully update more often overall), but I know I won't be doing any writing in the next week. I have a lot of writing to do for school (and probably a lot of math homework because I was sick last week). In addition to that, I'll be missing all of my classes on Thursday because I'm going to see a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (squee!). So I'll probably have more work to do since I'll be missing class. But still, I want to write more often! I'm gonna stop ranting about all the work I have to do and ask for some reviews. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks!**_


	10. The Letter

_Can this be the end of the transmission  
><em>_of sending you a message  
><em>_since you went missing?  
><em>_Can this be the end of the transmission  
><em>_of sending you a message  
><em>_since you've been missing…_

Signmark, "The Letter"

Cody had been staring into Zack's face for three hours, punctuated by a bathroom break and another short conversation with his parents about guilt.

It had been pretty much the same as the first one: don't feel guilty. Which didn't stop him from feeling that way, but made him a tiny bit more okay with it.

He had immediately gone back to watching Zack when it was over. He got as close to Zack as possible without leaving his post in the recliner, but he didn't dare to touch him. He wondered if touching Zack would bring back some modicum of the connection the two had grown accustomed to over past few weeks.

The connection that seemingly no longer existed now.

At the same time, Cody wasn't sure if he wanted the connection back. What if Zack was in a lot of pain? It wouldn't do any good for Cody to feel that pain, too.

Cody was alone in the room. Suddenly, the door opened, and a nurse carrying a stack of something walked into the room. When she saw only Cody, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Where are his parents? You're not technically supposed to be in here alone," she said.

"Um, my mom went to talk to someone about parking fees, and my dad went to go find something to eat," he replied quietly, his voice a bit distant. "And rest assured that I'm _not_ some little kid who would be stupid enough to mess with the machines keeping my brother alive," he added, his voice dripping with a bit of newfound venom.

"Well... okay," she said, slightly taken aback at the unexpected second half of the Cody's reply. She continued with her original purpose for coming into the room. "I have some stuff from the clothing room. It's most of the things that were taken out of his car, as well as the clothes he was wearing before the accident. It would've been here earlier, but the interns kept sending the request for it to Escort Service, which doesn't do runs to that room. I'm going to leave them here, all right?" She smiled, attempting to bring some cheer into the room. Cody did not return the gesture.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever," he said emotionlessly.

The nurse sat the pile of things onto the chair Carey had earlier been sitting in. "Have a nice day," she said, obviously obligated to say the phrase, but at the same time with a tone that reeked of sincerity. Without another word, she exited the room.

Cody ceased his unreciprocated staring contest with his brother and stood up from the recliner. He walked over to the things the nurse had left and took them up into his hands.

He took a look at Zack's clothes, the things on the bottom, first, lifting the three other objects on top off of the pile. He felt the rough denim of his brother's jeans against his fingers as he looked over the shirt his brother had been wearing. It was a purple pinstripe button-up shirt, and it had been one of Zack's favorites. Now, however, it was as good as ruined. There was a large rip in the left sleeve, and there were noticeable blood stains. Cody grimaced and put the clothes down, not wanting to know if Zack's pants had suffered a similar fate. He shifted his attention to the three things he had taken off the pile. One was Zack's cell phone, which had been used to call Cody those two long days ago. Cody pushed it aside, not really seeing anything special in the small, rectangular object.

The second was Zack's magic eight ball. What was that doing there? He picked it up and examined it. The entire ball was rather scuffed up, much more than when he had seen it last, and it looked like there was a dent in the side. _Zack said he was going to put this in the glove compartment, _Cody thought, _but if it's this scuffed up, it couldn't have been in the glove compartment. What could Zack have been doing with it? _Cody thought hard about all the possible things Zack could've been asking it. Drawing a blank, he sat the magic eight ball back down, his face freezing as his eyes landed on the third object.

It was a CD jewel case. There was a large crack across the front, as if it had been stepped on. _Or hit by a car,_ Cody thought. And inside was a single CD.

It was the only one that wasn't entirely metal.

Cody had made the CD himself as a gift for Zack's 17th birthday. He could still remember the track listing as clear as day.

Don't Forget. No Plan B. Crimson Grim. World of Chances. Cover Your Eyes. Collapsing. On Wings of Integrity. The Letter. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures.

Never Alone.

Cody continued staring at the damaged CD case, his mouth dropped wide open. His lower lip quivered as tears sprang to his eyes. None of the tears fell down his face, and Cody wiped his eyes before any could.

He let out a breath.

Continuing to hold the CD, Cody left the room. He walked past the nurses' bay and out of the ICU. He walked into the Family Reflection Room. He opened his mouth and uttered a single sentence.

"London, I need you to do me a favor."

* * *

><p>London had been gone three hours. Cody had used the time to stare at Zack some more. He had been asked to eat more than once, but he refused. His parents had tried to shift his attention to other activities, but he wouldn't budge. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.<p>

Carey got up and opened the door, revealing London holding a large box.

"London, you're not allowed in here," Carey said.

"I just wanted to bring Cody this," London replied, looking down at the box in her arms. She walked swiftly into the room before she could be denied again and plopped the box down at Cody's feet.

"I got the things you asked for," she said, "and I brought your mail from the ship."

"Thanks," Cody said.

"No problem," London replied, a soft smile appearing on the girl's face. She took a sad, longing look at Zack before she silently left the room.

Cody picked up one of the two letters on top of the box. It had a green and blue stripe across the top with Tipton insignia, signifying it had come from the ship itself. It had no return address, so Cody couldn't readily discern who it was from. He turned it over and pulled up the thin tape sealing the contents inside. He pulled out a tri-folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and was greeted with a letter handwritten on the ship's stationery.

_Dear Cody,_

_This is your homeroom teacher, Ms. Tutweiller. The other teachers and I have been told about your situation, and I have also been told that you will be leaving the ship when it docks in Boston. I want to first say that I am very sorry about what happened, and I sincerely hope and pray that Zack will pull through this and that you will both be back here very soon. After a discussion with your other teachers and Mr. Moseby , we have decided that neither you nor Zack need to make up anything you miss for any of your classes, and all of the assignments for the time you are not here will be marked as "exempt" in the gradebook. This includes all onshore experiences that may be assigned as well (though for a place like Boston, your hometown, I doubt you really needed them much anyway!)._

_I have also been told by your roommate, Woody, about what happened to your final project and about what you did to it upon hearing about your brother. I've discussed the issue with the other final project evaluator, Mr. Auckepenny, and we've decided that you will not be required to turn in a final project. If you choose to turn one in, it will be graded with attention given to the extenuating circumstances. If you opt to not turn one in, since we cannot exempt the final project from your grade, it will be an average of your social studies, science, and English grades, with weight given to science and English, since your original declared topic was a scientific one and all projects required a extensive written report (a report that we would still like to receive from you, if possible). If you turn in your report, it will be factored into your English grade. Since you have extremely high grades in all of these classes, if you do not turn in a project, your final project grade will still be more than satisfactory for your graduation from high school and possibly even for your eligibility for the valedictorian distinction._

_We have not decided what, if anything, we will do regarding Zack's final project. Once we have come to a conclusion about a plan of action for his project, a letter will be sent to either you or him through the ship's mail system, which will require someone to come on board to pick it up. I have enclosed a list of the ship's ports of call and what days it is expected to be at each one so that if you will need to come on board, you will know where the ship is._

_In closing, I again want to wish a swift recovery to your brother and send a get well message from all of the teachers to him. If you have any questions about what was covered in this letter or anything else, you can contact me in any of the ways listed on my syllabus, and I will be sure to get back to you as quickly as possible. In addition, you can call Mr. Auckepenny at his listed phone number or you may email him at adauckepenny at the Seven Seas High web address. You may also contact Mr. Moseby through his phone number or the email address marionmoseby at the SS Tipton website. He can also be called if you need to know exactly where the ship is at a given time. Thank you._

_Sincerely,_

_Ms. Emma Tutweiller_

_Social Studies Teacher, Seven Seas High_

Cody sighed in relief, glad that he at least had that weight off of his back. He refolded the letter and put it back in the envelope which he placed back on top of the box London had given him. He turned to look at his brother once again before he heard the sound of his father clearing his throat. Cody continued to look at his brother.

"Cody," Kurt said. Cody looked up at his father.

"It's 8:01."

Cody nodded, a grim expression on his face. He stood up, taking one long last look at Zack, then he picked up the box and left the room.

_And I'm wishing  
><em>_And I'm wishing  
><em>_your heart listens  
><em>_your heart listens  
><em>_And I'm wishing  
><em>_And I'm wishing  
><em>_your heart listens  
><em>_your heart listens_

Signmark, "The Letter"

_**A/N: Well, another chapter done! (BTW, I had a great time at Jimmy Fallon. It was AWESOME!) I was actually expecting something different (more between Zack and Cody) to happen in this chapter, which was why I named it "The Letter." But hey, there's still a letter in the chapter anyway. :P And if you haven't heard "The Letter" by Signmark, go listen to it now! If you want to know the full information of any of the songs I put in the tracklisting for Zack's CD, PM me.**_

_**Also, bonus points to anyone who can figure out what's in the box.**_

_**One more thing: I probably won't be writing a new chapter for a little bit as I'm taking part in the Strange Love Collection, which is this group of oneshot stories based on a random pairing that is assigned to the writer. If you want to know more about it or participate, information about it is in one of the Suite Life fanfiction forums.**_

_**Lastly, review. I'm a little sad because I haven't (yet!) received any reviews for chapter 9. Tell me what you thought of my story, what and how you think I could improve, and what you think is going to happen next. I can't wait to hear from you!**_


	11. My Brother's Keeper

_**A/N: Welp, it's been a long time. Even longer than I expected because I had some wicked writer's block, then my laptop (among other things) got stolen. I still have a computer though (my mom's), but it really doesn't have a whole lot of stuff on it, so it's best for writing, and it forced me to work through the block.**_

_**Truthfully, I was able to replace my laptop just five days after it was stolen, but I had an XP partition running through Bootcamp on the old one, so I asked for the same thing on the new one, which was hard to do with Snow Leopard (the old one) but apparently impossible on Lion (the new one), so my dad said it might take a couple weeks before I could use it.**_

_**Note: This story contains a summary/paraphrase of a biblical story. If for some reason you get **_**really**_** offended at such things, please feel free to skip the paragraph that starts with "The episode, entitled…".**_

_**Well, I've covered my butt enough. Let's start.**_

Cody, Kurt, London, Maya, Bailey, and Woody arrived at the hotel and checked into their room. Carey had elected to room with Zack tonight, a task that Kurt had taken on the previous nights.

The group walked into room 2330 of the New Haven Tipton Hotel. If it weren't for his mother's job and London's wealth, they wouldn't be staying in a room this high up; the upper floors were typically reserved for employees and aristocrats who tended to stay for longer lengths of time.

Upon surveying the room, Cody found it to be exactly the same as the suite in Boston (as well as the one the family had stayed in during their visit to LA a few years back). He wondered how six people would manage to fit in a suite that was meant to hold three people at most.

He didn't really want to think of that (or anything, much) right now, so he settled sullenly onto the light-orange striped sofa.

London noticed her younger friend's sadness and spoke up as the rest of the group explored the relatively small suite.

"It reminds you too much of home, doesn't it?" she said.

Cody nodded sadly.

"It's like being back home again, but minus a very important part," he answered shakily, as if he were about to break into tears.

"I know. I can't be in this room without smelling burning grilled cheese and hearing Zack telling me to take off the plastic and remember the bowl. I bet if I ever take a bath in here, I'll half expect him to try to come in with his snorkel and 'keep me occupied'," she said, liberally applying air quotes to the end of her statement.

An unexpected laugh snorted its way out of Cody's mouth at London's last comment.

"Zack was always such a goof," he smiled slightly.

"And I'm sure he still will be when he wakes up," she replied. Cody looked up into her eyes, unsure if she had really meant those words. What he was met with was a glimmer of truth so bright that he could not deny that she truly believed what she had said.

"Thanks, London… that means a lot."

All was silent for a few moments when Bailey wandered back into the main room virtually unnoticed.

"There's a VCR in here, Cody," London said, "so you can watch those tapes I brought you. Why did you want them anyway?"

"Yeah," Bailey added, causing the two to turn back, surprised, at the new presence in the room. "Why did you need London to come all the way back to Boston to get them?"

"It's… ah, it's kind of an inside thing between Zack and me," he said. The two nodded in understanding and didn't press further.

Zack and Cody had discovered _Superbook_ and _Flying House_ when they were about five. The cable had gone out, and the only channel their small, substandard antenna could pick up was TBN, which was airing a children's block with the two shows back to back. Though they weren't particularly devout Christians, the boys had fallen in love with the shows almost instantly and would watch the shows contentedly for a great many years. Zack still watched the shows even at his current age of 17 (though usually only when he was upset about something), but Cody had grown to favor more academic pursuits when he grew unhappy.

But still, a good _Superbook_ never failed to cheer him up, and it often did a better job at it than math or science ever could.

He opened the box and reached for the tape that had the first two episodes on it. As he pulled it out, he saw that the tape was about halfway finished. He put it in the VCR as Maya and Kurt made their way into the living room again, deciding he would just start with the second episode instead of rewinding the tape.

The tape began to play, and Cody began to watch, growing increasingly uncomfortable as he watched. Still, he managed to make it to the end.

He had picked the worst episode in the box.

The episode, entitled "My Brother's Keeper," told the story of Cain and Abel. The main character, Chris, had failed a math test and was angry with his father, who did not help him study for it. Superbook then took Chris and the other main characters, Joy and Gizmo, back to the story of Cain and Abel, two brothers. Abel was always trying to help Cain, but Cain often didn't get things right. Instead of realizing his mistakes, he often pushed the blame onto Abel for "giving him bad advice." After God favored Abel's offering but believed that Cain had not done his best, Cain grew angry. He took Abel away from the altar where they had presented their offerings and killed his brother. God then came to Cain and asked where Abel was. Cain responded, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" God then responded, saying he knew what Cain had done and that Cain would be cursed forever. He was cast from his home and never allowed to return. In the end, Chris learned that he had no one to blame but himself for his failure and that it was better to take responsibility for his actions.

Cody understood the moral and its importance, but the whole thing just made him depressed.

He again felt completely to blame for what had happened to his brother. He had not listened to his brother and had instead cast away his words and apologies. He had felt that Zack had purposely tried to ruin his project, and he had pushed his brother to a place where he could be injured or killed. He had more or less pretended not to know where Zack was when people began to get worried, even though he knew full well that his brother was no longer on board the ship (though his connection was not fine-tuned enough to be able to know what was happening to his brother until it was too late).

_He_ deserved to be cursed and thrown out of his home. This was his fault, and he had realized that too late. It was because of him that this had happened to Zack; it was because of him that his brother had left the ship at all. It was even his fault that his project had gotten destroyed, since he had left it sitting right there in the middle of the room instead of somewhere safer where people wouldn't risk running into it just by coming into the room.

Bailey noticed the sadness on her boyfriend's face and sat beside him.

"Cody, why are you so upset?"

"I… I-I'm exactly like Cain."

"Cody… you're nothing like Cain. You actually care about your brother; Cain's heart was cold. He meant what he did; you didn't. Nothing that happened to Zack was your fault. I'm sure if anything ever happened to any of my sisters that I could somehow attribute to myself, I'd be blaming myself, too. But it's not good for you, and it's not good for Zack. You shouldn't be wallowing in your own guilt and self-pity, no matter how justified, when he needs you." She finished her last sentence rather forcefully.

Cody thought about this. He had been lectured on guilt more than a couple times over the past day, but the statement Bailey had just made, though a tad harsh, was the most reasoned and level-headed response he'd received thus far.

He really shouldn't have been worrying about himself and his feelings so much. Zack needed his full, undivided attention, and he couldn't give him that if he was focusing on his own problems.

Tomorrow would be all about Zack; he'd make sure of that.

He glanced back at the stove and was surprised to see that it was 10:00 pm, a time around which he typically went to bed.

"Maybe we should figure out where everyone's sleeping," he announced, looking around the room before he continued. "Wait, where's Woody?"

London spoke, annoyed, from the post she had recently taken up next to the bathroom door. "Playing with the bidet. Which is bad, because I have to pee."

Cody ambled over to the bathroom and yelled into it. "Woody, stop playing with that germ-ridden butt squirter and get out here!"

Woody emerged glumly from the bathroom. "But it's so fun!" he started, slightly embarrassed. "As the Rugrats said, 'Wow! A potty that squirts you back!'" Cody, standing beside him, hung his head and sighed.

After a slight pause, he asked, "Woody, did you wash your hands?" Woody shook his head "no," and Cody pointed disapprovingly toward the kitchen sink since London had run into the bathroom as soon as Woody left it.

As Woody walked over to the sink, Cody repeated, "So, where should everybody sleep? The couch pulls out into a bed that fits two, so there's only bed space for four people."

Kurt added, "I also brought an air mattress in case something like this happened, but it's a twin, so it'll really only fit one person."

Cody was the first to make a suggestion on where he would sleep.

"I'd like to sleep in the bed that would be Zack's in our Boston suite, if no one minds," he said. Nobody objected. London stepped out of the bathroom as the suggestions and negotiations continued.

"Ooh! Can I sleep in the bathtub?" Woody asked.

"Uhh…" Kurt started, "I'd rather not let you sleep in a room with such easy access to the bidet," he finished with a disgusted look.

"Besides," Cody said, "I'm a night showerer, and I really don't want to have you come in while I'm showering to set up your 'bed'."

"Okay, then can I sleep on the air mattress? It'll be like going camping!"

Cody looked to his father. "Sure…" he said.

"So," Kurt said, "we still have one bed and the couch pull-out, and one of us will have to sleep on the floor."

"I'll sleep on the floor," London interjected. Everyone in the room stared at her, their mouths gaping open.

"You? On the floor?" Maya stated incredulously.

"Yeah. I figured I might as well sleep uncomfortably for one night if it means you guys get a good night's sleep." This made the group's mouths drop even further open.

"Ah-uhh…" Cody said, attempting to regain his ability to speak, "the… that means we have one bed and the pull-out."

"Maya and I could share the pull-out," Bailey said, looking to Maya, who nodded in agreement. "And then your dad could room with you."

"Does that sound good to everyone?" Kurt asked. The group all agreed and went to work setting up their beds and changing into pajamas while Cody went to take a shower. After he finished, Bailey, who also took showers at night, entered the bathroom and showered.

Cody walked into the bedroom and began to turn down the sheets on the bed he would be sleeping in.

"Hey, Codester," Kurt said, getting Cody's attention with his old kid nickname. Cody looked up in the direction of his father, who was changed into his pajamas but sitting on top of his sheets with his phone in front of him.

Kurt continued. "I usually go to sleep around midnight when I'm not doing night concerts. Is it okay if I stay in here, or do you want me to leave?"

"Um, actually, I was planning on writing something, so you can stay in here," Cody replied. He didn't mention that having his dad in the same room right now would have given him comfort even if his dad had been playing a loud concert while he was trying to sleep.

"Okay. If you stop writing and want me out, feel free to speak up."

Cody bent over his suitcase and pulled some crisp white paper and a pen out of the pocket. He went to the desk at the side of the room and began to write.

_**A/N: Well, there's a chapter. Kinda filler, but I felt it had to be written.**_

_**I have the next chapter written, but I will be waiting until later to post it. I'm posting off my new laptop right now, but my dad's not done with it, and I also have a lot of things I need to do concerning it. For now at least, I want to have a chapter in reserve when I post a new one.**_

_**I have a question: does anyone think I wrote London too out of character? I wanted her a little out of character, but does anyone think I might have gone too far? I appreciate all constructive criticism; please feel free to leave some by clicking the pretty blue button! :)**_

_**Next chapter (since I'm already 100% sure on the name): Glasgow Coma Scale**_


	12. Glasgow Coma Scale

_**A/N: I wasn't going to put a note here, but… med speak ahead! I also engaged in a practice called infodumping. This basically means I wrote a thousand words worth of description about said med speak, even though my readers likely aren't all that interested in it. :P If you get excessively bored with hearing someone drone on and on and on and on through medical descriptions with little to no emotion, this chapter might not be for you. But at the same time, it's got good information, so I don't want to tell you not to read it.**_

_**Also, sorry I'm late. I've been super busy with school and volunteering and cooking myself three meals a day for the first time. Hopefully, I won't get behind, and you guys won't have to wait forever for chapters.**_

_**Onward ho!**_

Everyone woke up the next day around 8:30. London, Maya, and Kurt, who had not showered the night before, took turns showering. Even Woody showered. London treated everyone to a late breakfast delivered by room service, but no one was really all that focused on eating. Almost everyone ended up wrapping up their plates and putting them in the fridge only half-eaten.

It was 10:30, and the group was almost ready to leave. Cody walked into his room and grabbed what he had written the night before as the others made sure they had everything they needed, and as he came out the door, he grabbed the unopened letter off the top of the tape box.

"You guys don't have to come," Cody said as he walked to the group by the door, "since they're probably not going to let you in anyway," he finished.

"No, we want to be there," Bailey said.

"Yeah," Maya added, "we wouldn't want to miss out on any news."

Woody and London nodded in agreement at this.

"And besides, if I get bored, there's a medical library right there," Bailey smiled softly.

"Everyone ready?" Kurt asked.

A chorus of yeahs came from the group of teens.

With that, they were off to the hospital.

* * *

><p>When the group arrived, Woody, Maya, Bailey, and London went to the posts they had taken the previous day.<p>

As Cody and Kurt walked toward Zack's room, they saw that Carey and a doctor were waiting for them outside the room.

As they approached, the doctor spoke.

"I'd like to go to a room down the hall and discuss some things, if you don't mind."

Cody was confused. "Did something happen?" he questioned, frightened for his brother.

"No, honey," Carey replied. "Don't you remember? They said a doctor was going to want to speak to us."

Cody vaguely remembered a nurse saying the day before that a doctor would need to speak with the whole family as soon as possible. He followed the doctor and his parents to a room down the hall.

The family entered the room. Inside was a single circular table with a few chairs situated around it. On one wall was an x-ray backlight. On another was a whiteboard, and in the ceiling, there hung a projector that was pointed at the whiteboard, though there was no computer connected to it. In the far corner was a small couch.

The doctor, whose nametag read "Dr. Henderson," shut the door and began to speak.

"Feel free to sit down," he said. The three took seats at the table.

"I know that a nurse has filled you in on the basics of Zack's injuries, but I wanted to give you more in-depth information."

"He fractured his left leg in 6 places, three in the femur, one in the tibia, and two in the fibula," he said, putting up x-rays as he spoke about each bone. "The fractures were closed fractures, which means they didn't break skin, but the tibia fracture and one of the fractures to the femur were complete fractures, which means the bone completely separated where those fractures are located. It's actually quite surprising that his femur broke so severely."

"The fractures in the femur required surgery in which we placed a rod in his leg and secured it to the femur with nails. This surgery was necessary because there were three fractures, half of which were complete, and it should help him get back on his feet faster. However, it does come with complications. Many patients who go through this surgery have chronic knee pain afterward. A minority develop muscle atrophy or arthritis. We won't know if Zack will have any of these until he wakes up and the bone heals a bit more."

"Continuing on to his left arm, he broke his humerus in one place, near the elbow. He also broke his radial head, and he broke the shaft of his ulna, which resulted in a Monteggia fracture in which his radial head was also dislocated. The end of his left middle finger was broken in several pieces, and he has a single fracture in his left index finger. Both of the finger fractures should heal quite nicely."

"On his right arm, he seems to have braced himself with it when his car was hit." This elicited a gasp from Carey. The doctor continued. "He has a small break to one wrist bone, but nothing extremely serious on that arm."

"The right wrist fracture should take 3 or 4 weeks to heal. The left arm cast should come off in four weeks, six weeks at the most. His leg cast will definitely be on for six weeks. He also has two rib fractures that should be healed by the time his wrist cast comes off."

When Dr. Henderson finished his sentence, another doctor, this one female, entered the room. She had unruly brown hair and a kind face, and she was wearing khaki pants and a lime green polo shirt underneath her white coat.

"Ah, good morning, Dr. George! You got here right on time," Dr. Henderson said. He turned to explain to the Martins.

"Dr. George is my colleague. I'm an orthopedist; she's a neurologist. She's here to explain his head injury. Trust me, she can do it far better than I ever could," he smiled. Unexpectedly, his pager began to beep loudly, filling the small room with shrill electronic shrieks.

"Ooh, I really need to take this. Dr. George can take it from here," he hurriedly explained with a nervous look on his face as he quickly left the room.

"Hello," Dr. George smiled modestly. "I can imagine how you're feeling right now. I don't know if what I say will help or hurt those feelings."

The three Martins looked attentively at her.

"When your son… and brother," she said, looking toward Cody, "came in, he wasn't breathing on his own. Part of this was due to having a collapsed lung, but we could also attribute it to his brain injury. He didn't severely injure the part of his brain that controls breathing, so he will likely be able to breathe on his own later on. Even when he starts to breathe on his own, we might leave the tube in to maintain a patent airway, since sometimes when someone is in a deep coma, the muscles in the throat can lose their tone, allowing the throat to close up."

"We did an fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging, on his brain, and most of the injuries are to the temporal and parietal lobes, particularly on the left side. This could result in many different complications, but the ones I think are most likely to happen are hemiparesis of the right side of his body or problems with receptive and expressive language processing. We call this type of problem aphasia, and it can affect Wernicke's area, which controls receptive language processing, Broca's area, which controls expressive language processing, or both. Damage to these areas can cause a number of different types of aphasia. If you want, I can get some pamphlets or handouts to you that explain some of the different types." The doctor ceased explaining Zack's injuries for a moment.

"That would be nice," Carey replied quietly, staring sadly into space.

"Okay. I will get those for you as soon as possible," she said with a small smile before diving into her explanation again. "Other parts of his brain were injured as well, including his frontal and occipital lobes. There was a coup contrecoup injury to his brain, which means something made his head stop moving, and his brain bounced off one side of the skull and hit the other. The injuries are more severe on the left side of the brain, probably because that's where the source of his head's deceleration was. Because of that, any problems are likely to affect the right side of his body more than the left. The temporal and parietal lobes were hit more directly, which is why they're more likely to cause problems."

"I also need to explain Zack's Glasgow Coma Score to you. The GCS is a scale that evaluates verbal, motor, and eye responses after a head injury. There are four points for the eyes, five points for verbal responses, and six points for motor response. Zack's current score is a 4, or more specifically, a 4t. That's actually an improvement over yesterday, so I'm optimistic about his recovery. His eye score is a one, which means he won't open his eyes for any reason. His motor score, which we could really only fully test on his right leg, is a 2, which means that instead of a normal response to mild pain inflicted on him, he extends his limb, or stretches it out, instead of flexing it toward himself and away from the source of the pain. When he came in, he wouldn't move at all, so he's already doing a bit better there. His verbal score is a 1, which means that he makes no sounds, but we can't test that response because he's intubated, so he receives a score of 1t, "t" for "tube," in that category. We add all those up to get the overall score of 4t."

The doctor seemed to be almost finished, but still, she sallied forth a small bit longer. "I know this is a lot to take in, and I wasn't exactly very consoling or emotional, but I want you to know that I do care, and I look forward to hopefully seeing Zack make a terrific recovery." The family perked up slightly upon hearing that.

"Are you sure you don't have any questions? You've been awful quiet."

"No," Kurt said as Carey shook her head. Cody just stared at the wall behind the doctor and chewed on one of his fingernails.

"If you need anything or want to know anything about Zack's head injuries or prognosis, you can come to me with any concerns you have. I'll also be in his room a lot, so you can express your concerns when I'm in there," she finished.

"We will," Kurt and Carey replied. Cody was silently taking in everything the doctor had said.

"Well, you can go and be with Zack now if you want," she suggested. She and the group stood up and exited the room, Dr. George heading in one direction and the Martins in the other.

Suddenly, everyone had a whole lot of questions.

_**A/N: I didn't intend for this chapter to be entirely medical jargon (not to mention really, **_**REALLY **_**boring if you're not into that kind of thing). But the medical explanations got so long that I didn't want to put things from the next chapter into this one, so here's what you get. This chapter could be described as filler, but it's immensely important filler in terms of knowing what's going on with Zack. :P Feel free to review! :) Tell me questions you think they might ask or questions you have, and I might incorporate them into the story! And if you have any qualms with my medical descriptions or errors you'd like to point out, review with that, too!**_

_**Next chapter: The Letter Redux**_


	13. The Letter Redux

_If I could only take that day back,_

_replay it like a record in my life's soundtrack,_

_I would rewrite it so I could erase what I feel now,_

_but reality is heavy like a dark cloud_

Signmark, "The Letter"

The entire family had returned to Zack's room unsure of what to do with their new information and knowledge. All was silent for a while as the Martins took it all in.

Cody, the only one who had remained completely silent during the doctors' explanations, sat with two paper rectangles in his lap and thought long and hard about what these injuries meant.

_Six fractures to his left leg? _Six?!_ And a rod in his femur? It'll take him forever just to be able to walk again! And he'd probably need intensive physical therapy to be able to do so. And he used his right arm to brace himself? Of course, he had to be awake when he was hit, or I probably wouldn't have felt the pain so strongly back on the Sky Deck. But I just can't imagine him being awake when something that horrible and scary happened to him._

_Nobody told us his lung collapsed when he came in here. Why did nobody tell us?_

_And all those problems he could end up with… hemiparesis? On his right side? What if he's not able to do art again? That would _**crush**_ him! And if he has that aphasia thing, he won't be able to joke around with people like he used to. And what would this do for his pranks? Yeah, he'd been doing less lately, but he still loved to do them. Would he still be able to?_

_Would he even be able finish high school? I don't even know what the teachers are going to want to do about his final proj—_

"Honey?" Carey interrupted his thoughts. Cody looked up at his mother.

"I think it would be nice if we all talked about his injuries," she announced.

"Nice?" Kurt said, annoyed.

"I don't know," she replied angrily. "I guess I meant good for us."

"Could you guys not fight?" Cody interjected, suddenly sounding as if he would cry.

"We are not fighting," they denied venomously in unison.

"You're well on your way there," he replied harshly. "Seriously, if you're going to fight like that, maybe you shouldn't be in here," he finished, his voice shaking.

"Young man," Carey started lividly, "did you just tell your parents to get out of—" Kurt placed his hand on Carey's arm. She turned sharply toward him.

"He's right," Kurt sighed, looking at Cody, who was silently letting tears run down his face with no intention of wiping them away. "We shouldn't be doing this in front of Zack. We need to blow some steam off. We can leave, maybe talk things out, get rid of our anger, then come back and talk about this."

Carey remained with the angry look on her face for a couple of seconds before her face relaxed into its prior sad look.

"Okay. We can go and get a hold of ourselves and come back in, say, one or two hours? Then we can talk about Zack?"

Everyone agreed, and Carey and Kurt got up to leave.

"Cody? You coming?" Kurt asked.

"I was actually hoping to be alone with Zack for a bit, if you don't mind."

"Okay. We'll be back in a little while." With that, he and Carey left the room, leaving Cody alone with his brother.

Cody scooted a bit closer to his brother and took the paper he had written on last night and unfolded it.

"I know they say you should talk to coma patients," he began nervously. "Whether it's because you can hear me or for my own catharsis… I don't think I'll be good at it. I wrote this letter last night, and I kind of wanted to read it to you."

"Dear Zack," he started reading, looking up at his brother.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to drive away, and I should have listened to you when you tried to say destroying my project was an accident. It's my fault that you were even in a situation where you could have gotten in an accident like this. I know how much this hurt, too, because I shared your pain when you were hit, and I hope that maybe it took just a little bit of the pain away from you. I know it's not really my fault that you got into this accident, but I can't help but feel like I caused it somehow. It doesn't help that I didn't speak up when I figured out that you left the ship."

"Honestly, I…" He paused, getting a little emotional; then he restarted. "Honestly… I don't know what got into me. I can't believe I was so stupid and heartless! I stayed silent, and it was ultimately you who paid the price. I just couldn't think about anyone but myself. I'm a selfish, horrible person who doesn't deserve to be your brother. You, y-you're so amazing in all the places I'm not, and I'm just an undeserving shadow next to you."

"You're the best brother anyone could have, and I'm glad you're my brother. You're so good at so many things that actually matter to other people: art, joking around… fun. I can only hope you'll still be able to do those things when you wake up."

"I know I'm not the only one that misses you. I'm sure if Maya or Woody or anyone else, really, was in here, they'd be talking up a storm with you. I wish I was good at talking to people who don't talk back. I miss you, Zack, and I can't live without you. Please wake up."

"Love… Cody," he finished. He looked up at his brother again and gazed into his face. He thought he saw Zack's left eye twitch. When it didn't happen again, he figured his eyes were deceiving him. He placed the letter on Zack's bedside table and shifted his attention to the envelope in his lap.

He ran his finger across the top edge of the envelope, then picked it up to examine it.

On the front was a plastic window through which he could see his name and the address to which the ship's mail was delivered. His eyes moved up to the return address.

Yale University.

What could it be? He couldn't think of anything special they would need to send him.

Unless he had forgotten to do something.

He tore the envelope open, the suspense, curiosity, and uncertainty becoming unbearable.

A short, typed letter with a fancy signature at the bottom greeted him.

_Dear Mr. Martin:_

_We thank you for your application to Yale University, and we congratulate you on your acceptance. However, you have not completed and returned your enrollment form. The university has already sent you numerous notices about this issue, but we have gotten no reply. Because of this, we regret to inform you that you will not be enrolled for the Fall 2011 academic semester. You may reapply later for another academic term; however, your acceptance for the current term does not guarantee your acceptance for a later term._

_Thank you,_

_Margit Dahl_

_Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Yale University_

Cody inwardly slapped himself. He had forgotten to send his enrollment confirmation in. And what's worse, the letter was postmarked before the accident, so he couldn't even use that an excuse. It was his fault. Every time he'd gotten a warning, he kept making a note to send his form next week. Then he would forget to send it, busied by all the clubs and extracurriculars he took part in.

"Zack," he said, his voice shuddering, "I guess it's time to talk to you again. I just found out I won't be going to Yale. I really wish you could respond right now. You're always so good at making me feel better during times like these. Maybe I should be talking to you about more positive things, I don't know. I just really felt like I needed to tell someone about this, and… well, you're the only person around."

"I think I need Blankie," he said, his voice full with thought.

And with that, he left the room.

_**A/N: So… you probably weren't expecting the retcon at the end of this chapter. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I mentioned before that Cody had been accepted to Yale (which I did before the series' conclusion), and I just now retconned it to match up with the events that took place in the last episode of the series. You might have also noticed that in the non-enrollment letter, I included everything that Woody read from the letter in the last episode. Or maybe not. I hope you did, anyway.**_

_**You might have also not expected a new chapter so soon. Yeah, don't expect another for at least two weeks to a month.**_

_**A note: Margit Dahl is a real person, and she was actually Director of Admissions at Yale University when I penned that letter, which was before the rest of this chapter. Any similarity to or difference from the actual Margit Dahl is entirely unintentional and coincidental.**_

_**Please review! Constructive criticism welcome!**_


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